WADSWORTH: The emotion and excitement Wadsworth junior Haley Hassinger showed as her team broke the huddle during its fourth set with rival Revere was undeniable.
Hassinger shouted, “We have to win!”
And that is exactly what the Wadsworth volleyball team did, defeating visiting Revere in four sets by scores of 25-11, 24-26, 25-22 and 25-21 in a Suburban League match.
“I am very proud of the girls,” Wadsworth coach Jill Quayle said. “Each and every one of them stepped up big time. They knew they had to since we have struggled with injuries and different situations happening. They stepped up and did a great job.”
Wadsworth (9-3, 6-0) trailed 2-0 in the third set and then rallied with eight points in a row to take control of that set.
Revere (8-1, 5-1) led 20-13 in the fourth set and seemed to be ready to force a fifth set. Wadsworth responded with a comeback that was led by senior Rachel Jones and juniors Sabrina Parsons, Rachel Goddard and Haley Beavers.
“They dug deep and found some confidence,” Quayle said. “I am glad we kind of grew as a team today. We haven’t been down and fought back and won. We have been down and we have fought back and tied, but today we fought back and we won.”
Jones, a 6-foot Palm Beach Atlantic recruit, was a presence at the net along with the 5-foot-10 Parsons, who had a team-high 17 kills.
“Rachel Jones always sticks out,” Quayle said. “She is a leader no matter what. She had a couple of errors in Game 2, and I said to her ‘Rachel, just focus on your blocks.’ She then went out and finished eight blocks. She contributes no matter what. She maybe did not have her best night swinging, but she had 16 kills.”
“That was probably the best comeback we have had,” Parsons said. “We brought it in [on the court] and tried to stay together. When we spread apart, we don’t play as well. This was really fun.”
Beavers had 40 assists, Goddard had 20 digs and sophomore Ciera Koons had eight blocks.
Sophomore Peyton Booth added eight kills, 13 digs and five service aces for Wadsworth, the defending Suburban League champion that was 21-3 overall, 14-0 in the conference last season.
“We want to win the Suburban League title,” Jones said. “This is a big game, a big steppingstone. We were excited. We were ready for this one. A big quote for our team this year is ‘We don’t just want to be a good team, we want to be great.’ ”
Wadsworth is looking to build on a Division I district title won in 2009 and a district semifinal appearance in 2010.
Senior setter Olivia Moskaluk (24 assists, eight service points) was steady for Revere.
“Jill had her team prepared tonight,” Revere coach Mark Uhrich said. “Wadsworth did a nice job in pretty much every facet of the game. I think the difference, especially in Game 4, was their front row. They just blocked us until there was no tomorrow. They had a nice block and our hitters couldn’t find a solution around the block.”
Senior Natalia Farian led Revere with eight kills. Junior Anna Warren and sophomore Meredith Ruetty both had seven kills. Seniors Brittany Tusek (16 digs) and Alyssa Holahan (eight service points) were other leaders for Revere.
